The number of people in the United States living with an artificial hip or knee is likely to increase in the coming decades, creating significant challenges for provision of specialized health care services and for the management of revision surgeries and long-term complications, according to a study presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting.

To estimate 2010 prevalence rates according to age, sex and time since surgery, researchers reviewed total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) incident rates, mortality rates and relative mortality rates during a 40-year period.

Researchers estimated a 1.5% prevalence of THA and a 2.2% prevalence of TKA in 2010, with 4.5 million people living with an artificial hip and 6.7 million people living with an artificial knee. California, Florida and Texas had the highest number of THA and TKA patients, while Alaska and Hawaii had the lowest.

Results showed women experienced a higher prevalence of both THA and TKA vs. men, and that prevalence increases with patient age, especially for TKA. Prevalence of THA at 50 years of age is 0.7%, increasing to 1.9% at 60 years; 4.6% at 70 years and 10% at 80 years, while prevalence of TKA is 0.6% at 50 years; 2.9% at 60 years; 8.4% at 70 years and 16% at 80 years. The overall prevalence of THA among adults 50 years or older is 4.4% and the overall prevalence of TKA for that group is 6.7%, according to study results.

“This study shows that around 7 million Americans have a hip or knee replacement. This large number highlights how these operations have kept a substantial part of our population mobile despite severe arthritis, something that wouldn’t have been possible before these technologies were available,” Daniel Berry, MD, professor of orthopedics at the Mayo Clinic, stated in an American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) press release. “These relatively high prevalence estimates also highlight the significant ongoing need to care for all of the patients with total hip and knee replacement. These prevalence estimates are within the same ballpark as coronary heart disease, and much higher than heart failure or stroke. To put these numbers in perspective, there are roughly one and a half times as many people living with a hip or knee replacement in the U.S. as people living with heart failure.”

The number of people in the United States living with an artificial hip or knee is likely to increase in the coming decades, creating significant challenges for provision of specialized health care services and for the management of revision surgeries and long-term complications, according to a study presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting.

To estimate 2010 prevalence rates according to age, sex and time since surgery, researchers reviewed total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) incident rates, mortality rates and relative mortality rates during a 40-year period.

Researchers estimated a 1.5% prevalence of THA and a 2.2% prevalence of TKA in 2010, with 4.5 million people living with an artificial hip and 6.7 million people living with an artificial knee. California, Florida and Texas had the highest number of THA and TKA patients, while Alaska and Hawaii had the lowest.

Results showed women experienced a higher prevalence of both THA and TKA vs. men, and that prevalence increases with patient age, especially for TKA. Prevalence of THA at 50 years of age is 0.7%, increasing to 1.9% at 60 years; 4.6% at 70 years and 10% at 80 years, while prevalence of TKA is 0.6% at 50 years; 2.9% at 60 years; 8.4% at 70 years and 16% at 80 years. The overall prevalence of THA among adults 50 years or older is 4.4% and the overall prevalence of TKA for that group is 6.7%, according to study results.

“This study shows that around 7 million Americans have a hip or knee replacement. This large number highlights how these operations have kept a substantial part of our population mobile despite severe arthritis, something that wouldn’t have been possible before these technologies were available,” Daniel Berry, MD, professor of orthopedics at the Mayo Clinic, stated in an American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) press release. “These relatively high prevalence estimates also highlight the significant ongoing need to care for all of the patients with total hip and knee replacement. These prevalence estimates are within the same ballpark as coronary heart disease, and much higher than heart failure or stroke. To put these numbers in perspective, there are roughly one and a half times as many people living with a hip or knee replacement in the U.S. as people living with heart failure.”